Be Thou My VisionOne of today's popular hymns began as a medieval Irish prayer.James D. Smith III

October 1, 1998

Millions worldwide have found in the humble prayer text and lyric tune "Be Thou My Vision" a vehicle for praise and worship. It offers a singular voice of fierce devotion rooted in medieval Celtic Christianity that is still relevant today.

It remained for Eleanor M. Hull, in her 1912 Poem Book of the Gael to offer a metrical, poetic version of Byrne's work in twelve rhymed couplets that have been used by editors since to arrive at versions of the four-stanza hymn so widely treasured today.

Concurrently, Patrick W. Joyce was publishing the traditional tune SLANE (named for a hill near Tara where St. Patrick challenged druid priests in lighting the paschal fire). Thus paired with the English text, the "Be Thou My Vision" sung today first appeared in the Irish Church Hymnal in 1919.

James D. Smith III is pastor of Clairemont Emmanuel Baptist Church in San Diego, and an editorial adviser for Christian History.

Links:

Have a midi player? (If you have Windows 95 or 98, the answer is yes.) Listen to the hymn online.

James Smith, an adviser for Christian History, is also a fan of baseball history. He has published articles on baseball history in the Biographical Dictionary of American Sports, The National Pastime, and Baseball Research Journal. His article "This Was Paradise: Voices of the Pacific Coast League Padres, 1936-1958" was published in the Journal of San Diego History.